What Does History Tell Us about the MPO Round 1 Results At 2023 Pro Worlds?

You
can’t
win
during
the
opening
round,
but
you
do
have
stay
close

August
31,
2023
by


Darren
LeMay
in

Analysis
with
comments

Over
the
last
14
MPO
World
Championships
(2008-2022),
the
eventual
winner
has
always
been
within
four
strokes
of
the
lead
after
round
one¹.
This
holds
true
even
with
the
split
groups
playing
separate
courses
in
recent
years.
After
yesterday’s
opening
round,
which
was
completed
this
morning,
the
top
20
all
sat
within
four
strokes
and
look
to
remain
alive
for
the
win.
If
we
remove
the
players
from
group
B
that
played
the
seemingly
easier
course
(Fox
Run
Meadows),
we
have
only
16
players
left
with
a
chance
at
a
world
title.

Obviously
all
players
will
still
fight
for
the
win
and
it’s
still
anyone’s
game.
Like
they
say…..literally
everyone…“there’s
a
lot
of
golf
left.”

With
72
holes
remaining,
the
old
adage
is
obviously
true.
That
said,
history
is
in
the
side
of
these
16
gentlemen:

Chris
Clemons
(-12)
James
Proctor
(-10)
Anthony
Barela
(-10)
Isaac
Robinson
(-9)
Jesse
Nieminen
(-9)
Zach
Arlinghaus
(-9)
Cole
Redalen
(-9)
Gavin
Babcock
(-9)
Alden
Harris
(-9)
Jakub
Semerád
(-8)
Matt
Orum
(-8)
Nathan
Queen
(-8)
Joel
Freeman
(-8)
Clint
Calvin
(-8)
Joseph
Anderson
(-8)
Paul
Krans
(-8)

The
players
from
Group
B:

Nick
Hanson
(-10)
Raven
Newsom
(-9)
Jaden
Rye
(-9)
Randon
Latta
(-8)
Matthew
Thompson
(-8)

These
names
almost
ensure
us
a
first
time
World
Champion
and
a
“non-favorite”
winner
of
the
2023
World
Championship.

Isaac
Robinson
would
likely
be
the
favorite
of
the
list,
as
the
only
player
with
a
victory
at
a
Major
(2023
PDGA
Champions
Cup).

Bonus
fact:
Only
two
of
the
last
12
champions
were
actually
leading
after
round
one
(Paul
McBeth
2013
and
Ricky
Wysocki
2016).

What
needs
to
happen
in
round
2
for
one
of
the
contenders
to
be
on
the
right
side
of
history?

With
having
to
wait
for
completion
of
round
one,
there
is
a
good
chance
you
are
reading
this
after
round
two
is
complete.

After
two
rounds
in
each
of
the
last
seven
world
championships,
the
eventual
winner
was
in
the
top
four
and
on
the
lead
card
for
the
third
round!
So,
history
tells
us
that
after
round
two,
the
pool
of
potential
winners
is
whittled
down
to
only
four
names.

Furthermore,
in
three
of
the
last
five
years,
the
eventual
winner
shot
the
hot
round
in
the
entire
field
for
round
two.

Bonus
fact:
In
2016,
Ricky
Wysocki
shot
consecutive
hot
rounds
in
each
of
the
first
two
rounds,
becoming
the
only
player
to
do
that
in
the
last
20
years.
He
then
did
it
again
in
round
three!

Original source